‘Nashville Star’ starts with 12 finalists

“Nashville Star” will cut straight to the chase when it premieres next week: Rather than showing us hours of audition footage, the show is putting its 12 finalists on stage right away.

The show is entering its sixth season – and the first on NBC after five on corporate sibling USA. The two-hour premiere at 9 p.m. Monday will introduce the 12 finalists, who range in age from 16 to 37 and include a few single parents, a U.S. Navy sailor who used leave time to audition for the show and a trio that didn’t find out it made the cut until the day before the first episode taped.

Monday’s premiere will be the only show of the season that’s pre-taped; the rest will air live.